Review: Fettercairn 12 Years Old and 16 Years Old
For 200 years, Fettercairn’s Highland single malts never officially graced American shores, at least via branded releases. In 2025, the brand introduced part of its core range to the U.S., with limited distribution on 24, 28, and 40 year old single malts. Now, the Whyte & Mackay-operated distillery is rolling out its 12 and 16…
Review: Empress 1908 Gin, Complete Lineup (Updated 2026)
First things first: That vibrant blue liquid is gin — not violet liqueur, not sloe gin, not something from the planet Zebulon. It’s a straight gin colored to be blue, thanks to the addition of butterfly pea blossoms to the distillate. Why make a blue gin? The British Columbia-based distillery explains: Victoria Distillers introduced Empress…
Top Spirits Gifts for Father’s Day 2026
Your dad has worn the same belt for 10 years and hasn’t put on a tie since the Clinton administration, so why are you going to give him one of those tired old gifts for Father’s Day once again? Take it from a dad: Booze is well-known as the international currency of fatherly love. With…
The Best Grenadine – 7 Brands Reviewed (Updated 2026)
Of all the cocktail ingredients in the world, humble grenadine is probably the one we all remember encountering first, sipping on the stuff as children either in the classic Shirley Temple… or the more decadent Roy Rogers. Grenadine was originally a roughly 50/50 mix of pomegranate juice and sugar syrup — and you can easily…
Review: Ardbeg Dolce
This year’s release for Ardbeg Day — marked on the final day of Islay’s Feis Ile celebration — features one of the distillery’s most evocative — and successful — aging regimens. That regimen is Marsala dolce, the sweetest style of Sicilian Marsala wine, which spans secco (dry), semisecco (semi-dry), and the sweet dolce, which is…
Review: Michter’s US-1 Barrel Strength Sour Mash Whiskey 2026
Michter’s launched its first barrel strength product, Barrel Strength Rye, in 2015 and followed it up not long after with a barrel strength offering of their core US-1 Bourbon. While both Barrel Strength expressions have reappeared over the years (the rye more frequently than the bourbon), Michter’s Toasted series has been the more consistent, non…
Review: WhistlePig Declaration Wheat Whiskey and PiggyBank 2026
Ready to get your patriotism on for the big 250? Well, WhistlePig is, offering up its latest PiggyBank in red, white, and blue along with a brand new wheat whiskey called Declaration, named after the only Declaration you’ve ever heard of in your life. July 4 will be here before you know it, so get…
Review: Wines of Larkmead, 2026 Releases
We’re longtime fans of California’s Larkmead and are pleased to revisit the blue chip operation’s three latest releases, arriving in time for 2026’s summer festivities. All are bold reds so if you don’t get to them this year, a few years of cellar slumber will likely do them all some good. 2023 Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon…